New UNH athletics director Allison Rich: 5 things we learned about her goals and views

DURHAM — A new era in University of New Hampshire sports began Thursday as Allison Rich was introduced as the school’s new director of athletics before a standing-room-only crowd at the Victory Club overlooking Wildcat Stadium.

Rich, who replaces Marty Scarano after his 22 years at the helm, spent the last nine years at her alma mater, Princeton University, as the senior associate director of ahletics/senior woman administrator.

“I am a strong believer in that you never leave to run away from a place,” said Rich, who has also served in various roles at Loyola University Chicago, Florida State University and Cal-State Fullerton. “Princeton is a fantastic place ...  and I will always love that place. But you leave to go towards something, and the more I learned about UNH athletics, and I met all the people here and got to know the student-athletes, the traditions, the history and the success that they have had, both academically and athletically, it just seemed like a great place to be. UNH seems like a really wonderful fit for me, my husband, and my career moving forward. I am thrilled to be here.”

UNH President Jim Dean said Rich checked all the boxes the school was looking for in its nationwide search that brought a large number of applicants, and 15 candidates who were interviewed by the hiring committee and whittled down to two finalists.

“I think (Rich) is the total package,” said Dean, who has served as UNH’s president for the past four years. “I looked at all the things we need and where we are at it with intercollegiate athletics and all of the challenges in the classroom, out of the classroom, Title IX, fundraising and realignment. Every area that I looked at, she was there with experience everywhere. There was a lot of interest in this position, and we had several (candidates) who were really strong but (Rich) really rose to the top. The final decision was a hard one, but she was clearly the strongest person for the job.”

Scarano announced his retirement last November, and finished his 22nd year with the Wildcats this summer.

“(Scarano) has done a fantastic job building this program,” Rich said. “The staff that is in place, and the infrastructure that has been built, is wonderful. I just want to come in and continue on that success. I'm really excited about that.”

Here are five things we learned about her mindset going into her new job in Durham:

The people of UNH enhanced Rich’s interest in the job

Rich first met with officials at UNH in March, and quickly realized it was a place where she could work.

“The people here struck me most of all,” she said. “We spend a lot of time doing what we do and trying to do that with people you don't get along with or with people who don't care about the student-athlete experience is really difficult. UNH is a place where the coaches and the staff are really dedicated. They are wonderful people who want student-athletes to be as successful possible. The feeling has been really positive just knowing that I can live here and be happy and comfortable and be part of this community.”

Rich start date is July 25 and she has a plan

Rich’s first official day on the job will be on Monday, July 25, and, after finding her office and putting her things down, she knows what she wants to do first.

“I want to get to know everybody,” she said. “I'm going to meet with every single person on our staff and hear what they think our strengths are, where they think our challenges are, and what they would like to see and get a true picture of our athletics. And then I am going to start looking at our programs. We're going to look into our facilities and see what type of opportunities may lie there and take full advantage of what we have. We have some wonderful infrastructure here and I think there are some things we could definitely elevate and make better.”

Renovations, including reducing the playing surface at the Whittemore Center, began in March. Rich has heard everything is on schedule to have those renovations completed by the time the calendar turns to September.

“As far as I know, everything is on track, which is good,” Rich said. “We’re hoping everything is ready by the time the students need to get on the ice. I am hearing we are on track. I don't know all the details, but I'm hearing it's going to be great.”

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Rich believes coaches are teachers

Rich said college head coaches and assistant coaches are educators first and foremost.

“We always talk about how little time is actually spent in what we consider the coaching role,” Rich said. “So much time is spent engaging with the student-athletes and serving as role models and teaching them and helping them become strong men and women, and become really successful in everything that they are doing. We have some wonderful head coaches in place and assistant coaches who really understand what it means to be a true educator.”

Kelsey Hogan, the women’s basketball coach who played at UNH, was on the hiring committee, and called Rich’s hiring an “exciting time.”

“I am very grateful, we all are for Marty Scarano, and all his years here, but it’s an exciting time to start a new era in Wildcat country. We’re excited to get to know (Rich) a little better and continue the success on and off the court. She's ready, and she's going to hit the ground running. We're excited to start building those relationships and really get to work.”

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Future of sports at UNH

Currently, UNH offers 21 sports, a little more than half of what Princeton offers (38). Rich said she will look into adding more at UNH.

“There's a lot that goes into having many sports,” Rich said. “I'm a big fan of all the sports that I've worked with. I really like sports. I'm never going to say (adding sports) is never going to happen here. It's not something I know enough about yet to say this is what's going to happen. We’re certainly going to look into what our options are.”

Name, image, likeness

Last July, the Supreme Court ruled college student-athletes could make money off their "name, image, and likeness."

Rich believes NILs are a ‘great opportunity’ for student-athletes at UNH.

“I want to be able to support them, and provide them the resources they need,” she said. “I'm excited to dig into it. These student-athletes are all very busy, and they are all working very hard. I'm sure there's not a lot of free time in their lives, but if they want to participate in an NIL, we want to give them every chance they can to be successful at that.”

This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: Allison Rich introduced as UNH's new athletics director